Canadian woman steals back stolen bicycle

A Vancouver woman earned widespread notoriety Tuesday for stealing back her bicycle from a thief after seeing it advertised online, AFP reports.

Kayla Smith, 33, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that her Can$1,000 (US$950) bicycle was taken from a rack in Vancouver's oceanfront Olympic Village -- constructed to host athletes during the 2010 Winter Games and now a bustling neighborhood.

Smith filed a police report.

The next day, she spotted an ad on the classified advertisements website Craigslist for a bike that looked suspiciously like hers, so she contacted the seller and arranged to meet him in a nearby McDonald's parking lot, posing as a buyer.

She told the CBC she immediately recognised her bike, with personalised stickers on the frame.

"Holy crap this is my bike," Smith told the public broadcaster. "Like what do I do? And then I was just, like, play dumb."

The woman asked the seller if she could ride it around the parking lot and took off.

As news of her daring dash spread online, police cautioned against confronting thieves, but her actions continued to draw praise.

"Was it smart? Probably not. Was it badass as all Hell? Damn straight!" said a comment on the reader section of CBC's website.